Eagles search for answers to scoring woes

Philadelphia Eagles running back LeSean McCoy (25) runs the ball against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the third quarter of an NFL football game on Sunday, Oct. 7, 2012, in Pittsburgh. The Steelers won 16-14. (AP Photo/Don Wright)

The $45 million running back who led the league in touchdowns last season cannot get the ball on first-and-goal at the three-yard line because the $5.5 million head coach thinks it’s a better idea to run the quarterback.

Welcome to the Eagles, who average 16 points a game, allow almost 20 per game and think they’re entitled to be better than 3-2.

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The Eagles have scored a grand total of seven points in five first quarters this season. They’ve been outscored 47-24 in first halves this season. That’s 4.8 points per first half. Last year the Eagles owned the first two quarters, totaling 241 points, an average of 15 a first half.

Andy Reid, the head coach, blamed it largely on turnovers; i.e. too many giveaways, not enough takeaways. He’s at a loss for the brutal starts.

“We have to do a better job offensively in the first half,” Reid said. “Right now, it’s more fundamentals and technique than it is anything else. We need to make sure we work on that and do a better job coaching that during the week here.

“We’re going to do that and try and get that fixed.”

Eagles running back LeSean McCoy is sixth in the league with 437 rushing yards. But he has just two touchdowns – one rushing, one receiving.

After five games last year McCoy had seven touchdowns, including five rushing. McCoy wound up with 20 TDs, a number he’s not going to sniff if the Eagles’ ineptitude continues.

In the Eagles’ 16-14 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday, mega-millionaire quarterback Mike Vick’s fumble into the end zone on first-and-goal at the 3 was recovered by Larry Foote.

It was a huge momentum swing benefitting the Steelers.

“That contributed to the loss,” said McCoy, who had 16 rushes for 53 yards. “You need to at least score three. If we get seven it’s a different ball game. We just made turnovers. We have to stop it.”

Why the Eagles wanted Vick to run the quarterback draw on first down is another issue. When they needed key short yardage late in the game, they gave it to McCoy. He converted two huge fourth downs on the scoring drive giving the Eagles a 14-13 advantage.

On a gutsy fourth-and-one call at the 30-yard line of the Eagles, Reid told McCoy to take care of it. McCoy got two yards. Later on the march the Pro Bowl running back got two yards on another fourth-and-one at the 47 of the Steelers.

So, why send Vick into the teeth of that fierce Steelers defense via the quarterback draw? There was speculation Vick decided to run on his own.

“It was called,” Reid said. “They’re a big two-man team. They two-man it then walk the linebackers up on the ball or they bring the inside linebackers and exchange with the outside guys. We felt that as long as we got a body on a body there, smooth sailing. They did bring the inside guys but we didn’t get it taken care of so it didn’t work out.”

Beyond turnovers, Reid explained the Eagles have been playing good defenses requiring them to scrap for points, minimize turnovers and force turnovers.

The longer Reid spoke, the less believable he was.

Reid conceded high-priced wide receiver DeSean Jackson is constantly double-teamed. Why that hasn’t opened the door for other players to make big plays is another mystery.

Nonetheless the Eagles still throw deep to Jackson. They just don’t complete them. And that’s an issue when you stubbornly stick to the big-play philosophy you’ve shaped your personnel around.

“I think teams understand that that’s what we’re going attempt to do,” Reid said of the deep balls. “You see the depth of the safeties, No. 1. That’s part of it. That’s allowed us to work our short-intermediate game. Really we haven’t been stopped as much as we’re stopping ourselves so we have to make sure we take care of ourselves.

“When I come back to say that, I’m not saying that in an arrogant way by any means. I’m giving you what’s real so take care of yourself first and make sure you get it right and then we go from there.”

What’s real is the Eagles have figured out why they can’t score points, just not what to do for Plan B.